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Four Reasons People Shop, Not Adopt

We’ve all had this conversation. A friend wants to bring home a new pet, and despite your best efforts, she’s set on buying from a pet store. How can you convince to her adopt, not shop? Here are four things we hear a lot, and how you can respond.

If I don’t buy that puppy in the pet store, who will?Pet stores usually sell their puppies quickly, and the store will slash the price on slow sellers until they’re bought. If people stop giving their business to pet stores that sell puppies by not purchasing puppies or anything else from them, ultimately, the puppy mills that they support will shut down from lack of demand. Hurray!

I want a purebred/a puppy, and they don’t end up in shelters.Some people want a Golden Retriever no matter what. Tell your pal that a one-of-a-kind mutt from a shelter is just as healthy and lovable, but that 25% of animals who enter shelters are purebreds, and that most breeds have a breed rescue—a group that re-homes dogs of a specific breed. Oh, and show them some videos of ASPCA puppies.

Shelter pets aren’t likely to be healthy.Explain to your pal the many physical and mental ailments puppy mill dogs—most of those in pet stores—can develop. Remind your pal that any animal can become sick or injured, regardless of where he came from, but that at a shelter you know up front if your new pet has any chronic health issues. Let your friend know that pet store dogs are actually somewhat more likely than shelter dogs to need vet care for an illness.

My friend has a shelter dog, and he’s hyper/destructive/scared/shy.Here’s where those of you with shelter pets can point to them and say, “Uh, what about Mr. Fluffy here? He’s a model dog and he came from a shelter.” Then point out that just like dogs from anywhere else, some shelter dogs have behavior issues to work on. Adopting from a shelter allows you to know exactly what you’re getting and whether you’re prepared to handle any issues that may arise.

Good luck! If you have other suggestions, share ‘em with us. And if you’ve persuaded someone to adopt, not shop, tell us about it.

I have always had purebred Burmese cats. With my last 2 cats, a blue Burmese and a sable Burmese, when they were only 3 years old, they had to have their teeth cleaned and had to be sedated for this to take place. It cost me over $2,000 to have them looked at. Despite my best efforts, my blue Burmese got another gum infection when she was only 8 years old. We treated her and the vet tried to save her life, but she had to be put to sleep after another $1,000 vet bill.

After looking up health concerns regarding health issues with purebred Burmese cat, I found out that they are susceptible to allergies from the plaque on their teeth. This problem is caused by inbreeding and also is taking place with Siamese and Persian cats also.

My next rescue will be a cat that I adopt from the shelter...no more purebreds for me! Several of our local pet stores have kittens that came from a foster mother and were from pregnant cats brought into the shelters. I want a black cat as I hear that they are the last to be adopted because of their color.

I once cat-sit for someone who had a very glossy beautiful black cat named Spirit. I was warned not to ever touch her because she was vicious. After the lady left I went into Spirit's bedroom and gave her my hand to sniff. Then I left her some kibble treats on her bed. After 3 days I gave her a slow pat of her back. She put her teeth on my hand but did not sink them in and she never broke the skin.

This display told me that she badly craved love and attention but she was afraid of being hurt again. (She had been abused and adopted from the shelter by this lady.) I slowly patted her many times a day until she came to look forward to this. I then started to brush her fur. Again, she showed aggressive behavior but I persisted and soon she was purring when I patted or brushed her. After a short time she amazed me by jumping up on my lap. She was so afraid and she jumped down after a quick pat. By the end of the 3 weeks the owner came home and was astonished to find her "vicious" cat sitting curled up with me and purring loudly.

She totally loves her Spirit now and was overjoyed to have her become a lap cat.
Sometimes, it just takes time, slowness, patience, treats, soft whispers, gentleness and love and you can really make a real difference in some poor abused animal's life and also enrich your own.

Someone that I know adopted a cat and a dog from the shelter. They both had lost an eye because of abusive owners. She adopted these two because she thought that a lot of people wouldn't want them because of their eye missing. I feel that she was right. Both of these animals are extremely loving and I think that they really appreciate her kind nature and are so happy that they now have a forever home with loads of love.
I feel that each animal owner should, if they can, have plans on what to have done to their pet if they pass away or aren't able to care for their pets any longer. My friend and I are both going to take care of the other's cats in that case. If our pets do not get along with each other, we plan to constantly visit the senior's center looking for kind people to adopt our pets.

A lot of elderly people won't get another pet as they feel that they may die or have to go into a nursing home. They are willing to get an older animal because they don't have this fear.